In this article, by studying the Korean Confucian Lee Hang Ro’s and Vietnamese Confucian Nguyễn Xuân Ôn’s thoughts on the Western culture, we want to point out the tendency of rejecting the West of Korean and Vietnamese intellectuals in 19th century. Because of the same traditional Confucian foundation, their viewpoint of the West have many similarities. In their opinions, the traditional culture of their country is fundamentally opposed to the Western culture, the most important point is that the traditional culture is built on a moral foundation, while the Western culture is not. Base on “the distinctions of Hua and Yi”, they thought that Westerners belong to the so-called “Yi” (barbarians), and their country - Vietnam or Korea - is the “Central region”. They believed that Western culture, as the barbarians’s culture, is not worth learning, but must be rejected, even, must be enlightened by Confucian culture. Such notions of course lead to the position of shutting off from the outside world, rejecting the Westerners and ready to resist militarily when they actually start a war of aggression.